OPEC Cuts Production
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said on December 17th that it would reduce its output target to 24.845 million barrels a day, a 4.2 million b/d cut from September production. At the time there was wide-spread skepticism among oil traders that OPEC would ever unite sufficiently to carry out a program of major production cuts. In the last two weeks, nearly every member of OPEC has announced
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The Volatility Continues
Gaza, OPEC production cuts, and the gas shutoff to Europe competing with an avalanche of bad economic news for control of oil prices. At the end, the bad economic news won with crude falling below $40 on Friday after having been above $50 on Tuesday. The week was highlighted by a 12 percent price drop on Wednesday, the biggest in seven years. While US stockpiles continue to build, oil for November
Gaza
A call by an Iranian military commander to cut oil exports to Israel’s supporters last week made little headway with conservative Arab governments who are completely focused on dealing with the plunge in world oil prices. Iran’s Foreign Ministry paid only lip service to the call for an embargo. For Iran to go it alone in the midst of efforts to slash domestic oil subsidies could easily
Briefs January 12, 2009
Investment banks want to hire 10 supertankers to store crude oil at sea, seeking to profit as futures contracts get more expensive later in the year. The cost of storing on supertankers works out at about 80 to 90 cents a barrel each month. (1/10, #4) According to a senior Saudi official, oil demand could fall by 23 to 45 percent due to the global financial crisis, but investments
Quote of the Week
“Dwindling prices could also shake the very foundations of oil allies like Mexico, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia, which could experience internal unrest as oil revenues, and so state expenditures, decline.” – Michael Klare, professor and author, oil and national security issues
Putting Liquid Fuels in Perspective-A Visit to Perdido (part 1)
A few weeks ago, in the name of Peak Oil and … fishing … we traveled to Shell’s Perdido Project in the Gulf of Mexico. Perdido is a floating spar platform in 7800′ of water. Despite the fact that the spar was put in place last summer, it has already created a mini-ecosystem that favors all marine life. Don’t tell anyone, but the fishing was great! Of course, getting
